Grieder: Houston firefighters haven't made the case for pay parity

Houston Professional Fire Fighters Association president Patrick "Marty" Lancton speaks to the media after a judge sided with the association that Houston City Hall improperly electioneered against firefighters pay measure Tuesday July 31, 2018. Firefighters have forced the entire city into a costly game of chicken in which the average Houstonian will lose, says columnist Erica Grieder.

Photo: Michael Ciaglo, Staff photographer / Staff photographer

I can’t help but appreciate the belligerence of the Houston Professional Fire Fighters Association.

It’s heartening to see people assert themselves in a context where many leaders have pre-emptively taken the stance that to do so is inherently selfish. Republican women, for example, have just endured a weeklong debate triggered by an allegation of sexual misconduct made against Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh.

Kavanaugh categorically denies the allegation, but it’s a credible one. That’s clear from the fact that some of his supporters have theorized that it might be a case of mistaken identity. Also clear is that Republican men don’t actually think such an allegation should affect Kavanaugh’s confirmation to the nation’s highest court. Some Republican women would agree with that, presumably. But those who think the allegation should at least be taken seriously have been scolded accordingly.

It’s astonishing that Republican women have so little leverage in their own party. It may be impossible to prove that a 17-year-old assaulted a 15-year-old girl at a party in suburban Maryland in the 1980s. And I understand that some men resent the suggestion that they should, as a general matter, believe women.

But in 1918 they naively gave us the franchise. Republicans may rue that decision, but they can’t undo it easily, or before Nov. 6.

Watching such depressing drama unfold in Washington is one reason I can’t help but appreciate the belligerence Houston firefighters have shown in their battle for pay parity with Mayor Sylvester Turner, of late.

On Nov. 6 Houston voters will be asked to weigh in on a proposition that would give firefighters equal pay to police officers of corresponding seniority and rank. Since everyone likes firefighters and the idea that people should be treated equally, Proposition B will probably pass.

But firefighters have forced the entire city into a costly game of chicken in which the average Houstonian will lose, in pursuit of a goal that doesn’t actually make sense.

Firefighters are, like Houston police officers, employed by the city — and in a number of major American cities, firefighters and police officers do have pay parity. But they don’t literally do the same job, and the rate at which police officers are paid ultimately has no bearing on the question of whether firefighters are paid at an appropriate rate.

Turner agrees they are not, and has offered firefighters a 9.5 percent raise over the next three years. That may not be as much as firefighters deserve, or sufficient to ensure that the city can retain employees who are, after all, professionals with transferable skills. But it’s hard to say, frankly, given that firefighters have defined their goal in reference to what police are paid, which would work out to a 25 percent increase.

Put differently, pay parity would cost the city $98 million a year, and more as police get raises. That’s a significant sum of money, even in a city the size of this one; Houston has an overall budget of nearly $5 billion, but it also has no shortage of current needs.

And although Houston firefighters may well have been treated unfairly by city leaders over the years, that’s not really relevant to the current debate. Turner may have earned the headache the firefighters have given them, and I certainly don’t fault them for staging this fight.

Ultimately, though, I’ll vote no on Proposition B. Like everyone else, I like firefighters. But they haven’t made the case for pay parity.